A crowded field of New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial contenders made their comprehensive appeals to voters in their final primary debate Sunday night.
The candidates mentioned President Donald Trump early and often in an effort to move voters their way.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) had harsh words for Trump, calling him “the most corrupt president this nation has ever had” and saying his “is not a federal government you can work with.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said that “we have to fight back” against Trump. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said he believes it is the “job of the governor” to fight against Trump. Few candidates took a collaborative tone with the president in the 2 1/2-hour debate.
Five out of the six major Democratic candidates qualified for the debate — Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller did not raise enough money to participate. Gottheimer, Sherrill, Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney participated.
New Jersey is one of two states, along with Virginia, with a gubernatorial election this year. Both general elections are expected to be competitive, but only the New Jersey Democratic primary has featured ferocious competition out of the four party primaries.
Gottheimer used his opening statement to focus on affordability. “People are getting crushed,” he said, before talking about his “lower cost, lower taxes” agenda.
Sherrill, who stayed away from battling other candidates during the debate, took her chance at slamming the likely GOP candidate, Trump-endorsed Jack Ciattarelli. She told voters that he promised to “DOGE New Jersey” and that Trump said Ciattarelli is “100% MAGA.”
Sherrill is the front-runner in the primary.
An April Rutgers University-New Brunswick poll showed Sherrill in first with 17% support, leading Fulop at 12% and Spiller at 10%. Gottheimer and Baraka tied for fourth with 9% support, and Sweeney drew 7%.
Baraka, who drew national attention for being arrested at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in his state, tried to paint himself as the progressive candidate. “Most of the progressive organizations in New Jersey support my candidacy because they know I’m a progressive for real, I’m not just playing one on TV.”
Sweeney, a seasoned politician, tried to tell voters that his experience will allow him to govern on Day One. “I don’t have a learning curve,” he said. He called Trump a criminal.
Fulop said he would provide a “clear vision” on how to go forward and that Ciattarelli will be difficult to beat. He said the GOP candidate took his “reverse congestion pricing” plan, which charges people coming into New Jersey except state residents. Baraka said, “I wouldn’t brag about that.”
Fulop said he thinks the election will be a referendum on Trump because many who voted for him are independents. “It is not going to be only a referendum on Donald Trump because independent voters in the state of New Jersey, a lot of them voted for Donald Trump,” he said. “You need to move independent voters, you need to move Republican voters, with a clear vision of what New Jersey looks like,” he added.
Sweeney and Fulop differed on energy, with the latter saying the state should stick to clean energy instead of natural gas.
“We’re basically making a commitment for five years to construct it and for 50-plus years for it to exist,” Fulop said. “And you need to be realistic about climate change, and we need to lean in hard, even if it’s a tough conversation.”
Sweeney said he believes natural gas is still a necessary evil. “No one up here on the stage might say it, but I’m going to say it, we still need gas,” Sweeney said. “We can’t afford all this clean energy. We need more power. New Jersey used to export power to other states. We were the envy.”
On education, Sherrill wants to reorganize school districts in the state by county rather than municipality to reduce costs. Gottheimer suggested that he wants to cut the number of superintendents in the state in his objective to lower administrative costs.
“We’ve got to get the administrative costs down,” Gottheimer said. “We’ve got more superintendents than we have mayors. We’ve got to get more educators in the classroom to teach our kids.”
All of the candidates said they would push back on Trump if he goes after the schools and universities’ diversity, equity, and inclusion plans. “We’re already at risk,” Baraka said. “We’re already in the crosshairs. And the idea that we should moderate ourselves in this moral moment is wrong.”
Sherrill said after the debate that she intentionally avoided any spats, even though she drew veiled criticism from Sweeney. He said, “We need to start winning some fights in Washington,” several times throughout the debate.
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“I wanted to discuss the issues,” Sherrill told reporters after the debate. “If some bickering was going on — I’ve got four kids, I don’t really engage in bickering.”
Voters will cast their ballots for their preferred Democrat in the June 10 primary. Whoever wins will likely face off against Ciattarelli for a chance to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ).